What’s in your bag, TRU?

Invading people's privacy to find out what students carry with them

We set out to discover the hidden lives of TRU students and decided the best way to do this was to find out what people keep in their bags. There was no shortage of interesting people carrying interesting things who had a lot to say about what they were carrying. So, what’s in their bags?

I need all of these things! I need pens in case one runs out of ink, I need lipsticks in case I need to change colours, I need my wallet ‘cause it has a little bit of money, I need my phone to call my ride… The mirror I can live without. (Pam Erikson, fourth-year English)

My wallet because it has my birth certificate in it and without that I don’t have an identity. I don’t know who I am anymore. (Hayley Wuschke, second-year Human Services)

My phone. I’m an international student and my mother is going to think something happened to me if I don’t talk to her every morning. (Nashtha Sharma, first-year Finance (Indian international student))

My water bottle because it brings me one of life’s most basic needs any time of the day or night. (Scott Turner, fourth-year English)

Probably my keys because without those I can’t escape the school. (Travis Flaherty, fourth-year History)

If the zombie apocalypse started today, how would you use these items to survive?

I would use the three keys on my lanyard as makeshift brass knuckles, fashion my pens into deadly blow darts, and keep entertained while reciting Shakespeare. (Martina Doucet, fourth-year Sociology-Theatre)

I would use the mangoes to catch and eat wild animals. I would compose music on the blank sheet music to keep myself sane, and I would then store it in my neck wallet to keep it safe from zombies. I would use the stiff paper of the note cards to make makeshift shurikens to fight off the zombies. (Gavin Hayes, post-grad TESL)

I’d spray them with my silver spray to see if they were made of bacteria and collapse. I would stuff tissues in their mouth, cover their head with my scarf, and stab them with my keys. And if that didn’t work, I’d see if they went into anaphylactic shock from the lipstick and hand cream. If that didn’t work, I’d throw my keys or money in the opposite direction to distract them. (Lori Burns, post-grad TESL)

This metal pen is pretty sharp. I could probably stab a brain with it. It would probably be pretty gross because I’d have to get very close. (Pam Erikson, fourth-year English)